Read by Emma Watson
What books does Emma Watson recommend?
Best known as Hermione Granger and later as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, Emma Watson turned her love of reading into a movement with Our Shared Shelf, and these 69 book recommendations — the largest collection on this list — grew out of it. Sourced from her feminist book club's monthly announcements, her social media, and interviews with the likes of Malala Yousafzai, the titles lean into society and politics, fiction, and memoir, with a clear commitment to intersectional and women's voices. Watson praises Caitlin Moran's How to Be a Woman as "so brilliant" that it "deserves to be read more than once," and calls Min Jin Lee's Pachinko "one of the best novels I've ever read." From Gloria Steinem to Toni Morrison to bell hooks, the list reads as a syllabus for the kind of reader who believes books can change who holds power.
Last updated July 2026 · Every recommendation cited to its original source.
byCarlos Ruiz Zafón
2001512 Pages(741,557)
Source: Interview with Scholastic
Read by Emma Watson
byCaitlin Moran
2011313 Pages(110,724)
“This month I am choosing a book which I confess I have already read. It is so brilliant though. It deserves to be read more than once... I read it on a plane from London to New York and I laughed out loud and cried so much I think the whole of my cabin, airline staff included, thought I was losing my mind.”
— Emma Watson
Source: Our Shared Shelf April 2016 Announcement
Read by Emma Watson
byMaggie Nelson
2015160 Pages“It might require a bit of work but The Argonauts rewards us with an expansive way of considering identity, caretaking, and freedom”
— Emma Watson
Source: Our Shared Shelf May 2016 Announcement
Read by Emma Watson
byMarjane Satrapi
2003341 PagesSource: Our Shared Shelf June 2016 Announcement
Read by Emma Watson
Women Who Run With the Wolves
Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype
byClarissa Pinkola Estés
1995560 PagesSource: Our Shared Shelf March/April 2017 Announcement
Read by Emma Watson
The Vagina Monologues
20th Anniversary Edition
byEve Ensler
2018272 PagesSource: Our Shared Shelf January/February 2017 Announcement
Read by Emma Watson
byMargaret Atwood
1998336 Pages(2,517,697)
Source: Our Shared Shelf May/June 2017 Announcement
Read by Emma Watson
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
byNicholas D. Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn
2009294 Pages“Half the Sky depicts, in eye-opening detail, the various cultures and customs that suppress women and gives a voice to those individuals who need to be heard the most... the key to enabling change and economic growth is in unleashing women's potential.”
— Emma Watson
Source: Our Shared Shelf September/October 2016 Announcement
Untamed
Stop Pleasing, Start Living
byGlennon Doyle
2020352 Pages“MY COMPLETELY UNMISSABLE ESSENTIALS from quarantine reading – thank you Glennon Doyle!”
— Emma Watson
Source: Instagram Post, May 2020
byMin Jin Lee
2017496 Pages“I would recommend Pachinko by Min Jin Lee which is one of the best novels I've ever read.”
— Emma Watson
Source: Our Shared Shelf Group Comment, May 2019
Read by Emma Watson
byRupi Kaur
2015208 PagesSource: Our Shared Shelf July/August 2018 Announcement
Read by Emma Watson
Whose Story Is This?
Old Conflicts, New Chapters
byRebecca Solnit
2019192 Pages“We all have many different types of mothers – intellectual, creative, political – Rebecca Solnit is one of mine… and I don't care if it antagonizes anyone to say so.”
— Emma Watson
Source: Our Shared Shelf November/December 2019 Announcement
Read by Emma Watson
Quiet
The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
bySusan Cain
2012352 Pages“It discusses how extroverts in our society are bigged up so much, and if you're anything other than an extrovert you're made to think there's something wrong with you. That's like the story of my life.”
— Emma Watson
Source: Rookie Magazine Interview, 2013
byKazuo Ishiguro
1989258 Pages“Part of me is very resentful of this British mentality that it's not good to express feelings of any kind—that it's not proper or brave.”
— Emma Watson
Source: Harper's Bazaar Interview
byAntoine de Saint-Exupéry
200096 Pages“I like books that aren't just lovely but that have memories in themselves. Just like playing a song, picking up a book again that has memories can take you back to another place or another time.”
— Emma Watson
Source: Interview with Time, 2010
Read by Emma Watson
byStephenie Meyer
2005498 Pages(7,448,638)
“I love those books. My friend and I read them back to back. This is so sad, but I literally felt depressed when I finished reading them because I thought, 'Oh my God, what am I going to do now?'”
— Emma Watson
Source: Elle Magazine Interview
Read by Emma Watson
byPhilippa Gregory
2005416 Pages(168,150)
“I know it sounds silly, but I thought, 'I've got to be just like her.' She was the first wife of Henry VIII and she survived, having been cruelly divorced. I remember being really inspired by that.”
— Emma Watson
Source: Harper's Bazaar Interview, 2010
Read by Tim Ferriss, Naval Ravikant, Bryan Johnson and 7 others
Siddhartha
An Indian Tale
byHermann Hesse
2002176 Pages“I just read Siddhartha, which was recommended to me by a friend.”
— Emma Watson
Source: Savoir Flair Magazine Interview, 2012
Read by Emma Watson
byGloria Steinem
2015312 PagesSource: Our Shared Shelf January 2016 Announcement
Read by Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Shonda Rhimes and 1 others
byAlice Walker
2003300 PagesSource: Our Shared Shelf February 2016 Announcement
Read by Emma Watson
Read by Emma Watson
byMaya Angelou
2013224 Pages(27,500)
Source: Our Shared Shelf November 2016 Announcement
Read by Emma Watson
The Opposite of Loneliness
Essays and Stories
byMarina Keegan
2014208 Pages“I had to tell you about this book. If you've already read it tell me what your favourite bits were.”
— Emma Watson
Source: Twitter Post
Read by Emma Watson
Tiny Beautiful Things
Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar
byCheryl Strayed
2012368 Pages“It's been less than three weeks and I have devoured Torch, Tiny Beautiful Things, and Wild. Thank you.”
— Emma Watson
Source: Twitter Post
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Frequently asked questions
What books does Emma Watson recommend?
Her 69 recommendations include How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran, The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés, and The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón.
What is Emma Watson's Our Shared Shelf?
Our Shared Shelf is the feminist book club she founded in 2016 to discuss intersectional literature and women's empowerment. Many of her recommendations come directly from its monthly picks, including My Life on the Road, The Color Purple, and All About Love.
What is Emma Watson's favorite book?
She reserves rare praise for Min Jin Lee's Pachinko, calling it "one of the best novels I've ever read," and for Caitlin Moran's How to Be a Woman, which she says is "so brilliant" it "deserves to be read more than once."
Where do Emma Watson's book recommendations come from?
They are drawn from Our Shared Shelf announcements, her Twitter and Instagram posts, and interviews with outlets like Harper's Bazaar, Time, and Interview Magazine, as well as her filmed conversation with Malala Yousafzai.
Has Emma Watson written any books?
Yes. She contributed to Fashioned from Nature (2018) and Beyond the Wand (2022). Her larger literary influence, though, comes through curation — building and championing the reading community around Our Shared Shelf.
All 69 Books Emma Watson Has Recommended
- The Shadow of the Wind · Carlos Ruiz Zafón
- How to Be a Woman · Caitlin Moran
- The Argonauts · Maggie Nelson
- Persepolis · Marjane Satrapi
- Women Who Run With the Wolves · Clarissa Pinkola Estés
- The Vagina Monologues · Eve Ensler
- The Handmaid's Tale · Margaret Atwood
- Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide · Nicholas D. Kristof
- Untamed · Glennon Doyle
- Pachinko · Min Jin Lee
- Milk and Honey · Rupi Kaur
- Whose Story Is This? · Rebecca Solnit
- Quiet · Susan Cain
- The Remains of the Day · Kazuo Ishiguro
- The Little Prince · Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
- Twilight · Stephenie Meyer
- The Constant Princess · Philippa Gregory
- Siddhartha · Hermann Hesse
- My Life on the Road · Gloria Steinem
- The Color Purple · Alice Walker
- All About Love · bell hooks
- Mom & Me & Mom · Maya Angelou
- The Opposite of Loneliness · Marina Keegan
- Tiny Beautiful Things · Cheryl Strayed
- Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail · Cheryl Strayed
- Torch · Cheryl Strayed
- Love Letters to the Dead · Ava Dellaira
- A Return to Love · Marianne Williamson
- The Fault in Our Stars · John Green
- Braiding Sweetgrass · Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Black on Both Sides · C. Riley Snorton
- This Is Going to Hurt · Adam Kay
- The Magus · John Fowles
- Noughts & Crosses · Malorie Blackman
- We Are Never Meeting in Real Life. · Samantha Irby
- I Capture the Castle · Dodie Smith
- The Kite Runner · Khaled Hosseini
- The Catcher in the Rye · J.D. Salinger
- A Thousand Splendid Suns · Khaled Hosseini
- Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl · Carrie Brownstein
- The Beauty Myth · Naomi Wolf
- Hunger · Roxane Gay
- The Power · Naomi Alderman
- Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race · Reni Eddo-Lodge
- Heart Berries · Terese Marie Mailhot
- The Hate U Give · Angie Thomas
- Rebecca · Daphne du Maurier
- Sister Outsider · Audre Lorde
- Eloquent Rage · Brittney Cooper
- Good and Mad · Rebecca Traister
- The Things I Would Tell You · Sabrina Mahfouz
- Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars · Kai Cheng Thom
- Beloved · Toni Morrison
- Solito, Solita · Steven Mayers
- Butterfly · Yusra Mardini
- His Dark Materials · Philip Pullman
- The Circle · Dave Eggers
- I Am Malala · Malala Yousafzai
- East of Eden · John Steinbeck
- Man's Search for Meaning · Viktor E. Frankl
- Little Women · Louisa May Alcott
- Metamorphoses · Ovid
- Bad Feminist · Roxane Gay
- Modern Romance · Aziz Ansari
- The Boy Who Lived · David Holmes
- Men Explain Things to Me · Rebecca Solnit
- Sex and World Peace · Valerie M. Hudson
- Cinderella Liberator · Rebecca Solnit
- The Queen of the Tearling · Erika Johansen